Heddles



y 30, 1967 F. H. KAUFMANN 3,322,159

HEDDLES Filed Oct. 13, 1965 lA/l/E/VTO/P FRANK H. KAUFMAN/V ATTORNEYUnited States Patent 3,322,159 HEDDLES Frank H. Kaufmann, HuntingdonValley, Pa., assignor to Steel Heddle Manufacturing Company,Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Oct. 13, 1965,Ser. No. 495,527 7 Claims. (Cl. 139-96) This invention relates toheddles used in weaving looms for the purpose of separating the warpends into sheds for the passage of the shuttle therethrough to effectthe weaving operation and to structure for controlling the twistingthereof on the supporting rods therefor.

This invention further relates to heddles of the type which are madefrom a thin flat strip of metal or other suitable material, suitablypunched and formed to the desired shape, and which are particularlyuseful for, but not limited to, installations in which automaticdrawing-in machines are used for entering the warp in the harness.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide successively opposite heddlespacing offsets at the locations at which the heddles are mounted ontheir upper and lower heddle supporting rods. The US. patent to Ragan,No. 1,994,286, is illustrative of such a construction.

With such alternation of the offsets, free twisting movementlongitudinally on the supporting rods in one direction is restricted toalternate heddles, the heddles between such alternate heddles beingrestricted to twisting movement in the other direction.

It has also heretofore been proposed to provide, as in the KaufmannPatent No. 1,379,824, offsets at the mortised locations at which theheddles are mounted on their upper and lower heddle supporting rods withthe offsets both in the same direction thereby preventing twisting ineither direction other than to a very limited extent.

It has also heretofore been proposed to provide in the heddle, at theheddle rod supporting eyes, and offset on one side of the mortise with acompound curve, i.e. a curve extending on both sides of the main plane,to limit twisting of the heddle in either direction. Such a constructionhas been employed with the well known Drawtex heddles as shown inKaufmann US. Patent No. 2,047,511. The length of the end eye or heddlerod mounting mortises in their relation to the height of the heddlesupporting rod is such that while twisting of the heddle is limited bythe upper portion of the offset the lower portion is not effective forpreventing turning.

It is necessary that heddles suitable for use with drawing-in machinesbe capable of limited and controlled twisting movement, and all in thesame direction, so that the warp receiving eyes can be positioned inopen position for the entering of the warp.

It is also desirable in some weaving operations that the warp receivingeyes have a limited capability of movement to a partially open position,or to be even more restricted against twisting while still having freeend to end movement on the heddle supporting rods.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a novelform of heddle made from a thin flat strip of metal or other suitablematerial which will have a controlled twist to determine the extent ofwarp receiving eye presented toward the main plane of the heddle frame.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a heddle of thecharacter aforesaid which is suitable for use with drawing-in machines.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a heddlesuitable for use with drawing-in machines and which can be readilyconstructed without presenting any serious manufacturing problems.

A further object of the present invention is to provide 3,322,159Patented May 30, 1967 "ice a heddle with controlled twist on the heddlesupporting rods and which is freely movable from end to end on theheddle supporting rods.

Other objects and advantageous features of the invention will beapparent from the description and claims.

The nature and characteristic features of the invention will be morereadily understood from the following description, taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing forming part hereof, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a group of heddles in accordance withthe invention mounted on heddle supporting rods, one of the heddlesbeing twisted to illustrate the control of the twist;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the upper end of one of theheddles of FIG. 1 in twisted position;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the upper and lower ends ofa modified form of heddle;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view similar to FIG. 3, showinganother modified form of heddle; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view similar to FIG. 3, showinganother modified form of heddle.

It should, of course, be understood that the description and drawingherein are illustrative merely, and that various changes andmodifications may be made in the structure disclosed without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing, each ofthe heddles 10 there shown is made from a thin flat strip of metal orwire, or other suitable material, the stock preferably being of the fullwidth of the finished heddle.

The heddle 10 preferably has opposite end sections 11 of the full widthof the strip, a central section 12 and connecting sections 13, all ofwhich are substantially in the same plane.

The connecting sections 13 of alternate heddles can, if desired, beprovided with heddle separating offsets 14 to space the heddles 10.

The end sections 11 of the heddles 10 can each be provided with amortise or slot' 15 for mounting the heddles 10 on upper and lowerheddle supporting rods 16. The slot 15 has side shanks 17 and 18 and one:of the side shanks 17 at each of the mortises is preferably cut away atthe side, as at 19, so as to permit the heddles to pass freely from endto end on the heddle supporting rods 16 when said heddle rods 16 aresupported in the heddle frame. Suitable heddle frames are shown inPatents Nos. 2,047,511 and 2,386,690 which will permit freedom ofmovement of the heddles 10 on the supporting rods 16.

The central section 12 of the heddle 10 is provided, intermediate itsextremities, with at least one keyhole slot 20 of known type andoriented as desired for engagement by the selector mechanism of the warpdrawing-in machine, if the heddles 10 are to be used for entering of thewarp by such a machine.

The central section 12 of the heddle 10 is provided with a warp eye 21with its side margins 22 and 23 offset respectively in oppositedirections from the main plane of the strip to provide a large effectiveeye for the size of the strip material, the warp eyes 21 all havingtheir margins 22 and 23 respectively offset in the same manner so thatthey face in the same direction.

In accordance with the invention the side shank 18 has an arcuate orcurved ofiset 24 out of the main plane of the upper end section 11 inone direction and in the shape of a semi-oval hump. The offset 24permits twisting of the heddle 10 in one direction about one quarterturn so as to permit the warp eye 21 to be positioned in open relation.The offset 24 does not affect twisting in the other direction and tocontrol this the outer finger 17a of the shank 17 at the upper heddlesupporting rod 16 is bent out of the main plane of the upper end portionin the opposite plane of the heddle rods 16.

If desired, the fingers 17c and 17d of the lower end section 11 can bestraight and in the main plane of the lower end section 11.

In FIG. 3, a heddle 19a is shown having a greater restriction againsttwisting. The upper and lower end sections 11 each has an offset 24 inopposite directions. The

fingers 17e and 17 f of the upper section 11 and the fingers 17g and 17hof the lower section 11 are offset out of the main plane of the upperand lower end sections in the opposite directions from the offsets 24.

In FIG. 4, a heddle b is shown in which the side shank 18 has a doublecurved offset 25, on both sides of the main plane of the upper and lowerend section 11. The side shank 17 of the upper end section 11 has theouter finger 17 thereof offset in one direction out of the main plane ofthe upper end section 11 with the inner finger 17k in that plane and theside shank 17 of the lower end portion may also have the outer finger17r thereof offset in one direction out of the main plane of the lowerend section 11 and the inner finger 17m in that plane.

In FIG. 5, a heddle 100 is shown in which the side shank 18 has a doublecurved offset 25 on both sides of the main plane of the upper and lowerend sections 11. The side shank 17 of the upper end section 11 has theouter finger 17n thereof offset in one direction out of the main planeof the upper end section 11 and the inner finger 17o thereof offset inthe other direction out of the main plane of the upper end section 11.The side shank 17 of the lower end section 11 has the outer finger 17pthereof offset in one direction out of the main plane of the lower endsection 11 and the inner finger 17q thereof offset in the oppositedirection out of the main plane of the lower end section 11.

A greater restriction of twisting of the heddles is thus provided by theforms of the invention shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 while still permittingfree end to end movement of the heddles on the rods 16, and even if thedouble curved offsets 25 of FIGS. 4 and 5 are not fully effective forcontrolling the twisting of the heddles.

It will accordingly be seen that heddles have been pro- 4 V vided withwhich the objects of the invention are accomplished.

I claim:

1. Loom harness comprising plurality of heddles arranged side by side onsupporting rods, each of said heddles comprising a strip of materialhaving mortised end sections provided with rod eyes for mounting on thesupporting rods and a central section with a warp eye, at

least one of said end sections having a side shank portion' on one sideof a supporting rodwith an offset out of the main plane of the endsection and the opposite side shank portion having a cutout for free endto end movement of the heddle-s on the heddle supporting rods andseparating inner and outer side shank fingers, at least one of saidshank fingers extending out of the main plane of the end section.

2. Loom harness as defined in claim 1 in which said offset is disposedin one direction and said last named shank is disposed in the oppositedirection.

3. Loom harness as defined in claim 1 in which said offset is disposedon opposite sides of the main plane of the end section.

4. Loom harness as defined in claim 1 in which an additional shankfinger extends out of the main plane of one of the end sections.

5. Loom harness as defined in claim 4 in which said fingers extendoutwardly in the same direction.

6. Loom harness as defined in claim 4 in which said fingers extendoutwardly in opposite directions.

7. A heddle comprising a strip of material with opposite end sectionsand a central section with a warp eye, said end sections each having aheddle supporting rod eye with opposite side shanks, the end section atat least one end being provided with an offset out of the main plane ofthe heddle, one of said side shanks at each end section having a sidecut-away separating inner and outer fingers, at least one of said shankfingers extending out of the main plane of its end section.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 599,836 3/1898 Fehr 139961,379,824 5/1921 Kaufmann l3996 2,426,456 8/ 1947 Kaufmann 139-96 X2,478,157 8/1949 Kaufmann 139-96 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner. JAMESKEE CHI, Assistant Examiner.

1. LOOM HARNESS COMPRISING PLURALITY OF HEDDLES ARRANGED SIDE BY SIDE ONSUPPORTING RODS, EACH OF SAID HEDDLES COMPRISING A STRIP OF MATERIALHAVING MORTISED END SECTIONS PROVIDED WITH ROD EYES FOR MOUNTING ON THESUPPORTING RODS AND A CENTRAL SECTION WITH A WARP EYE, AT LEAST ON OFSAID END SECTIONS HAVING A SIDE SHANK PORTION ON ONE SIDE OF ASUPPORTING ROD WITH AN OFFSET OUT OF THE MAIN PLANE OF THE END SECTIONAND THE OPPOSITE SIDE SHANK PORTION HAVING A CUTOUT FOR FREE END TO ENDMOVEMENT OF THE HEDDLES ON THE HEDDLE SUPPORTING RODS AND SEPARATINGINNER AND OUTER SIDE SHANK FINGERS, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID SHANK FINGERSEXTENDING OUT OF THE MAIN PLANE OF THE END SECTION.